Just a Little Change
by Yanagi Uxinta
Summary: A small moment from before things went wrong. When they were just two people who believed they deserved better. In this particular case, better clothes.


Sooo it's been a really long time since my last fic, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. This is just a small drabble to break the ice. Set a few years before the _Black_ trailer, when Blake still saw Adam as a hero and not a monster.

* * *

It was getting silly now. Yes, they were both scrimping and saving everything they could get for weapon parts and money for the blacksmiths, but they'd both had growth spurts in the past few months and it was _really_ starting to show.

'Adam.'

'Hm?' He was adding to the blueprint for his weapon – he'd finally settled on the design, and was adding the last few details.

'We're going shopping.'

He looked up, brow furrowed and nose wrinkled, put-out. 'Now? What for?'

'New clothes,' she said, tugging at her plain gray top. She'd had it for years, but she'd noticed a small hole in the seam this morning; not to mention that the chest had been getting slowly more uncomfortable as the fabric stretched tighter over the last year.

Adam looked her up and down, then pushed his chair back to survey his own dark top and combat trousers, frowning in disagreement. 'What's wrong with these?'

Blake sighed. Forgetting to eat for hours at a time when he was absorbed in something was one thing, but this? 'Adam, if you get any taller you'll be wearing a crop top and cut-offs. And I'm wearing clothes five years too young for me that don't actually fit anymore.' In a way, being so slender had been an advantage – less money had to go on clothes, meaning it could go to food and weapons instead. Unfortunately, biology had decided to catch up with her.

His lips twitched as he caught her meaning, though his eyes remained very firmly fixed on her face. His smile only grew when she narrowed her eyes at him, her ears tilting back in mock displeasure. He knew the difference between fake and real, though she hoped the warmth she could feel rising up her back and towards her cheeks wasn't visible.

They'd been... not dancing around each other, they were too comfortable for that, but something had changed between them in the past few months. They were always together, but she was sure they would sit just a little closer than they used to – almost touching. When they stood and talked, she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. He'd started stooping, just a fraction, when he spoke. He'd step just a little nearer when he did; it could have been entirely innocent – he'd shot past six foot in the past six months, so he would have to bend down towards her level... only he would look for a second too long, would stand close enough for her to hear him breathing, hear his heart on the edges of her hearing.

It wasn't all her imagination. It couldn't be. _Especially_ when he rolled up from his chair in a long stretch, baring several inches of pale skin beneath his shirt, a few shades paler than his exposed arms and face. Especially when he was watching her out of the corner of his eye, like he was waiting for a reaction. The tension slumped out of him as fast as he had drawn it up, but then he was standing _that_ close again, a smirk hiding at the corners of his mouth.

'Fine then. I suppose we can save up for another couple of weeks – it'll give us more time to finalise designs and find a blacksmith willing to serve us,' he said, that edge of anger creeping in at the end. It was becoming too familiar lately, so she did what seemed to work – she smiled, nodded, and diverted.

'You'll still help me with training, right? I'm really starting to get to grips with my semblance.' Living outside the cities, her parents had unlocked her aura when she was just a baby, but she'd only started manifesting her semblance and actively trying to use it in the past few years. Adam was helping her learn how to use it in combat, blending it with the swordplay he favoured and giving pointers when she took what he'd given her and made it her own.

He gave her a side-eyed look, one that said he knew full well what she was doing, but he let it slide with a rueful smile. 'Of course. So, what is my little spendthrift going to buy?' he asked, swiping up a chunk of their savings.

She bit her tongue on the completely illogical rush that flowed through her when he said 'my', and looked him up and down, contemplative. 'Heels. You're too tall; my neck's getting sore looking up at you.'

He grinned, slinging a casual arm around her shoulders as they headed out of camp. 'Are you sure you can fight in those?'

It was her turn to smirk, prodding him pointedly in the ribs. 'I _am_ a Cat faunus. I don't think I'll have any balance problems.'

He chuckled, ruffling the hair between her cat ears. 'Guess we'll see in the training ring.'


End file.
